Coming Out

LOS ANGELES - As one group attempts to use California public schools as
laboratories to assist children in "coming out" with their nontraditional
sexual orientation, another is urging parents to come out from these schools
and educate their children with their values at home or in private schools.

Last Sunday, a group called "Exodus Mandate" began placing literature in scores of Southern California church lobbies, urging parents to take charge of their children's education and oppose attempts by activists and politicians to shape the worldview of young people, a
worldview that runs counter to what many taxpaying parents believe and teach
in their homes and places of worship.

The final straw for some was the decision last fall by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger to sign SB 777 - a bill opponents say will have a long and
significant effect not only on California public schools, but also on public
schools everywhere. That's because California is one of the largest
purchasers of school textbooks and publishers tend to shape content to
reflect the wishes of the state that buys the most books.

SB 777, or the California Student Civil Rights Act, requires
"nondiscrimination" against sexual orientation, as well as other
characteristics. Opponents take that to mean favorable teaching about
homosexuality, bisexuality, gender identity and any and every other form of
sexual expression for which there is an advocate.

Dr. Ron Gleason, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, Calif.,
is leading the exodus movement in Southern California. In a telephone
interview, Gleason acknowledges it is difficult work because he says there
is virtually no leadership at the pastoral level with the "big name
Christian celebrity" pastors largely remaining silent. "They prefer to build
their empires rather than step out and lead," he says. Gleason says 96
percent of his congregation have their children in private schools or
educate them at home.

Gleason says SB 777 has resulted in California schools not being allowed to
use the words "mommy" and "daddy" anymore. "Children will be taught that
sexual orientation and gender are merely a matter of personal choice," says
Gleason, "and they will be taught to find what is 'right' for them."

The Website for Gleason's group argues SB 777 essentially makes it lawful
for public schools to "indoctrinate" children as young as pre-kindergarten
to accept as normal and morally acceptable homosexuality and "other sexually
deviant lifestyles." In addition, says the group, the legislation represents
a "complete reversal of 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching on human
sexuality, family, and marriage."